1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for rapidly and effectively removing electronic components, illustratively capacitors from a bulk supply and inserting the same into terminal apertures formed in a printed circuit board. The invention is more particularly related to an apparatus of the type described characterized in that the components are fed with absolute accuracy, such that, insertion of a component is effected into proper position within the P.C. board during each operative cycle of the device. The invention is further directed to apparatus which is capable of effecting component feed at a rate of 10,000 or more units per hour in contrast to devices now available wherein a production rate of 1,000-2,000 per hour maximum can be achieved.
2. The Prior Art
Electronic circuits are currently typically formed upon printed circuit boards (hereinafter P.C. boards) which, as is well known, comprise a matrix of insulating material having a multiplicity of conductive paths formed thereon. At appropriate positions on the P.C. board there are formed spaced aperatures which register with conductive paths of the board. Assembly of electronic components to the board is effected by inserting the lead portions of the components in bridging relation of appropriate paired apertures. The practice of inserting the components into the P.C. board is known generally as "stuffing" the board.
After the electronic components have been appropriately positioned with the board a solder connection is effected on side of the board opposite that occupied by the components.
Initially, conventional practice involved hand stuffing of the board i.e. electronic components which typically include leads extending axially from the distal ends thereof were formed by bending the leads into right angles to the body portion of the component, the bent leads being manually introduced into appropriate apertures in the board. Manifestly such practice is time consuming.
Subsequent, semi-automated refinements of P.C. board stuffing involved the use of so called X-Y indexing tables which receive a P.C. board and articulate the same through a desired series of orientations each of which was calculated to position an appropriate pair or plurality of apertures in the board directly beneath a filling apparatus. The apparatus utilized in conjunction with such X-Y table grips the appropriate components, the leads of which have already been preformed to a desired configuration i.e. into an essentially parallel orientation wherein the tips of the leads are spaced in accordance with the spacing of the P.C. board apertures. Thereafter the components are advanced toward the board in such manner that the free ends of the leads enter into the desired apertures.
Numerous difficulties inhere in insertion devices heretofore known. Certain such devices grip the component by a body portion thereof and advance the thus gripped component toward the P.C. board. In the event that the lead components are even slightly distorted from a desired spacing and a specific orientation relative to the body of the component, it will be evident that the distal end of the leads will not enter into the apertures of the P.C. board which are of a diameter of perhaps a thirty second of an inch, with the result that the board will be defective. When it is realized that certain boards may contain 100 or more components and that the board will be defective if even one terminal of a single component is not properly inserted, the magnitude of the problem will be better understood.
Further difficulty inhering in apparatus heretofore used to stuff P.C. boards automatically, resides in the difficulty in performing the leads of the components to a desired parallel relationship. If the leads are formed by the component manufacturer to the configuration necessary for insertion into a P.C. board it will be readily recognized that such leads may be deformed or deflected from their initial configuration during shipping or handling. Manifestly, as noted above, any such deformation will preclude proper feeding of the component.
Other apparatus known for the mounting of components in P.C. boards while gripping the leads of the component fail to allow for the possibility that the leads have become distorted in shipment or handling.